Bizarre Book Club 9: The bored dead, news in miniature and bizarro stories

Hello! Today’s pretentious Book Club picture is brought to you from Ruby’s Vintage tea shop in Colchester, Essex. They have a cosy room upstairs called The Reading Room.

They sell tea, cakes and clothes oh my!

1. Anti Twitter by Harold Jaffe. This book features real news stories shrunk down to their essence and the whole thing took me a little over an hour to read. I felt the saddest one was about Billie Holliday, ending with: Nobody knew who she was.

It was a little like reading the odd news pages online only more worrying. Large amounts were about football hooligans but I promise you, not all British people are like that – unless you count the time I drank a whole bottle of Appletiser, the memories of that night haunt us all.

2. Flamingos in the Ashtray: 25 Bizarro Short Stories by Zoltan Komor. I love his ideas and seem to spend a lot of time now wondering how he came up with them. Admittedly there are one or two typing errors in the text but it really wasn’t a problem for me because his imagination made my mind crackle like a fizzy drink opened after a shaking by a school bully. I like his brain so much I’m also including this link to three free stories online.

3. Suspended Heart by Heather Fowler. I’ve also read People With Holes by this lady and I think she’s becoming one of my favourites. Although her short stories are classed as Magic Realism it’s easy to recognise thoughts and situations we’ve all been through. Her imagery is beautiful and makes me want to roll around nude amongst the flowers, however I feel that would quickly devolve matters and the original point would be lost during calls for an ambulance and the cries of children.

4. The Postmortal by Drew Magary. A story told in stages of the collapse of mankind after a cure for ageing has been discovered. John Farrell starts as an ordinary man whose life quickly goes down the tubes along with the structure of society after taking the cure. Although it’s mainly a thriller, there are some very amusing images such as a stoner who decides to end it all by being blown from a canon. I found it as entertaining as a shrew in a tutu, which is pretty entertaining despite what the RSPCA might tell you. It’s not my fault they have no sense of humour.

So there we have it! Fare thee well, and may your summer be nice and warm, although not too warm as it can be unpleasant. A bit warm. Byee!

Weird true stories of the Witchfinder General

A mini documentary by me on a piece of local history. Yup, the Witchfinder General happened in my town and the surrounding areas. Amongst the usual stories of accusations and hangings are scary and strange tales told by frightened people of the time, including Betty Potter whose body ‘disappeared.’

Write for Frequency Theatre

Although based in Colchester, Essex (come to the Slack Space gallery and learn audio production if you’re in the area) Frequency Theatre are looking for scripts from all across the UK. Visit their website here to learn more. Plus here’s what they say to those with a script or thinking of writing one:

“Frequency Theatre puts new, engaging stories at the heart of our work. We want new plays by writers of all ages and levels of experience. We are looking for a refreshing voice, with a play delivered with verve and/ or wit. Plays that we’ll take notice of will utilise the medium, focusing on building atmosphere through the relationship of dialogue, sound effects and silence.

Plays should be 10 to 15 minutes long, as a guide this is between 1800 – 2700 words. Only plays around this length will be considered.

1. All plays should be in English.
2. Plays should ideally be written using the standard BBC Radio Format. For guidance this can be found at BBC Writersroom.
3. Plays should be submitted in Word formats only.
4. Only plays written for radio will be considered. Screenplays or play texts will be rejected.
5. Plays should be complete, self contained works.
6. Plays can be written by more than one writer.
7. Previously submitted plays will not be considered, only new drafts that we request will be read.
8. We are unable to enter into feedback with unsuccessful writers.
9. Copies will only be available following the broadcast.
10. All successful writers will be notified in advance of broadcast.
11. Writers retain copyright in respect of their script. Frequency Theatre retains ownership of copyright for all recorded works produced under the name Frequency Theatre Podcast. All recorded works may be edited for any reason including broadcast or promotional purposes.

If you have a script you would like to send to us, please email it to Rich Chilver at literary@frequencytheatre.co.uk

We look forward to reading your work.”

Good luck Pumpkins!

Local Art Space – Colchester Slackspace

I always get excited when I find local artisticness. Colchester Slackspace is described thusly:

‘Slack Space is an artist run initiative that puts art, music and performance into an empty shop unit in Colchester Town Centre. The group evolved through the networking site facebook and are supported by East of England Co-op and the local arts charity firstsite.
At Slack Space there is a a programme of art and events with the art changing every week or so and a 3 day mini-fest takes place once a month. What started as a repository for art has become became a catalyst for art with calls going out for various commissions and themes being responded to.’

Jolly!